Screenwriting

It seems like the movie business is open for just about any entity to hop on board and offer services for the filmmaker. Even Walmart is rumored to be boarding the movie streaming train. But when Apple signed a deal with A24 to amp up its intention to offer original content to viewers, lots of filmmakers stopped in their tracks to listen.   A24 is a distribution, financing, development and production company whose prestige credits include 2017’s Best Picture Oscar winner Moonlight. Per th...

Hello, Creative Army.  Hope all who are celebrating are enjoying the remainder of the Thanksgiving weekend. Let's get right after it, shall we? First up, a look at one of my favorite films of the 21st century, the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men.  This one is from our friends at Lessons from the Screenplay and comes with the mandate - don't underestimate the audience! Next, short and sweet, some sage acting advice from the versatile Hugh Jackman. As always, I ask that you share thi...

Everyday, we here at Stage 32 do our very best to offer blog posts that educate and inspire. We get contributions from filmmakers, writers, actors, and other creatives at every level of success. And when we don't share a contributor post, we share links to posts from other creatives out there in the world. Sometimes the posts we share fit you and your needs more than they fit someone else's.Sometimes they won't fit you at all.That's going to happen. With over 500,000 thousand members all ov...

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The next best time is now.” Although this is not the story of a tree, and I can’t say that it has been twenty years in the making, the implications of the proverb still hold true. This story is for the up-and-coming director that may not know the next step in their journey. To the high school student filmmaker that is trying to find their way on the toad to success, and might be looking for something of...

As creators, we are essentially entrepreneurs. Even if we hold a job of sorts, we still work as contractors and freelancers. Some of us even manage a production company or other small business. And to make it work... We've been told to work hard. We've been told to continue the grind.And we've been told not to waste a single minute as we reach for the stars. Alexis Ohaniaof Reddit While this is true to a fault, for some, these statements can be misinterpreted as working endlessly and with...

I’ve been in this industry for several years and in that time, I’ve seen dozens of talented people give up because success didn’t come when they wanted it to. It didn’t come in an expected time frame and therefore, they left town. Maybe they spent some time at an agency before they packed it in. Maybe in that time they booked a few commercials. But they got tired because nothing else ever came beyond those commercials. And when they got tired, they gave up and drifted away. It sounds brutal,...

Happy Sunday, everyone.  Hope you're all enjoying Introduce Yourself Weekend. Coming to you live from the Seattle Film Summit where Stage 32 is serving as the education partner.  It's been an inspiring few days of speaking and mentoring.  Also been fantastic to meet so many Stage 32 members in person. You might think all this would prevent me from bringing you Coffee & Content.  You'd be dead wrong!  Let's get to it. First, from Art and Story, a deep dive into text, subtext, and context. ...

By now you've read dozens of articles on the passing of Stan Lee. Me too. But there's one that caught my eye that was written by Stan Lee in 1947 titled: There's Money In Comics! The publication sold for a mere 25 cents, but the information he shared is priceless.   Lee wrote the article for Writer's Digest when he was in his mid-20's. To serve his memory and offer a piece of writing history that can still teach writers something today, Writer's Digest republished the article that shares...

I recently attended a panel discussion on writer’s rooms and wanted to share some of the insights offered by the panelists who are two prominent showrunners from network and cable: A streaming network executive, and a production company executive. The questions they answered were: - What do showrunners look for when they hire writers? - What is the process for hiring? - How are rooms different in network vs. cable and streaming? - What if you create a show and the studio wants to bring in an e...

When a writer wants to know the best way to pitch his or her project to Netflix or Amazon, it's important that they recognize something before they even entertain the notion: Know thy people around you, first. During his free webinar, "Ask Me Anything," RB answered this question frankly and thoroughly. If you think your show has the legs to get a meeting with Netflix, there are three key questions you need to ask yourself first: 1) Why you?2) Why now?3) What value are you bringing? Cli...